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Schedule set for Lake White work

Water from Lake White was drained into Crooked Creek using 10-inch hoses to lower the lake’s water level in September. The siphons had to be used again in March when precipitation raised the lake above acceptable levels to avoid problems with the spillway.(Photo: Nancy Robertson/file photo)

WAVERLY – Lake White, by this point in the year, should be well into another season filled with the roar of boat motors and the sound of people enjoying each other’s company on a lazy summer day.

Instead, there’s just the sound of silence — a void left by problems discovered last August with the Lake White dam that will keep things quiet on the recreational front for the next two summer seasons.

On the construction side, however, plenty of activity will soon be underway. According to Gary Arnett, director of Pike County Community and Economic Development, a schedule was released this week for the joint Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Department of Transportation project that would have all remediation work for the Lake White spillway and nearby Ohio 104 completed by Oct. 31, 2016.

Bid openings for the project will take place July 16, with the bid expected to be awarded by the state Office of Contracts to a contractor July 23. Within about 30 days of the project being awarded, work is expected to begin.

Arnett said development officials are concerned primarily for the businesses around the lake that could be affected most by the two-summer hiatus, including the Lake White Club, marina and Bill’s Boat House.

The Lake White Club, which at one point after the initial incident appeared ready to close, has maintained a Thursday through Saturday dining schedule, with some live entertainment nights and special events catering, despite the downturn in lake activity.

Other Waverly-area businesses, including those that sell summer recreational staples such as gasoline, beverages and food, also are likely to take a hit, Arnett said.

“All of them are going to feel it, at least a little bit,” he said, adding that development officials don’t have any definitive dollar estimate of the potential influence at this time.

The work became necessary when deterioration of the Lake White Dam led to seepage being discovered in late August that prompted officials to close Lake White State Park and use siphons to lower the lake’s level to look for the source of the leak.

Those same siphons had to be brought back in March when precipitation began to raise the lake back above what was considered “acceptable levels,” according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Matt Eiselstein, a spokesman for ODNR, said the agency has worked since the incident to keep water levels in the lake about 11 to 15 feet below normal winter pool levels to reduce the water pressure on the dam and to increase the storage capacity for any potential flood waters entering the lake.

The water levels in the lake are low enough now to prohibit most boating, fishing and swimming, he said, and shelter house rentals — which last year brought in less than $600 in fees — are not being taken because of the pending repair work.

The Ohio Department of Transportation will be the lead agency on the project, expected to run about $35.6 million. Work will include performing dam structural repairs, replacing the existing bridge on Ohio 104, reconstructing the highway with widening of Ohio 104 in the area, constructing turn lanes at the intersections with Ohio 551 and 552, making intersection improvements at Ohio 104 and Forest Hills Road, installing a new lake drain, and relocating a portion of Crooked Creek away from Ohio 104.

Kathleen Fuller, spokeswoman for ODOT District 9, said the public will be kept informed of progress on the work through a planned website that will contain news releases and possibly photos from the work.